


Day 13: Ice Skating ft. Sufin

by Pippiuscattius



Series: Pippi's Holiday Shipping Challenge [13]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: 25 Day Holiday OTP Challenge, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Cold Weather, Finland is bad at ice skating, Fluff, Ice Skating, It's okay tho me too Finny, M/M, Nordics, SuFin, Winter, hand holding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-19
Updated: 2017-12-19
Packaged: 2019-02-16 22:05:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,494
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13063101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pippiuscattius/pseuds/Pippiuscattius
Summary: When the Nordic nations learn that Finland never learned how to ice skate, they take him to Lake Saimaa to remedy the issue. Finland is awfully worried about going out on such a giant body of water with no experience, but thankfully, it's Sweden to the rescue.(Part of my 25 Day Holiday OTP challenge. Will feature multiple ships from multiple fandoms. These will all be quickly-written, silly drabbles so please don't judge them too harshly. UwU)





	Day 13: Ice Skating ft. Sufin

**Author's Note:**

> Ice skating is haaaaaaard. I love it, but it's _haaaaaaaaaard_. Sorry if any of the Nordics are OOC, I've never tried writing them before!
> 
> (Also another special shoutout to my friend greenblanketbythefire for getting me significantly more invested in Sufin and the Nordics in general. I have a feeling she'll like this one.)

Christmas was, without a worldly doubt, Finland’s favorite time of year. From the first of December onwards, the chipper nation dressed in a full-on Santa suit, complete with the signature hat and oversized boots. Each and every day, he smelled of nutmeg cologne and he turned his cheer up to eleven, fully determined to make the most out of the holiday.

Yet for all the Christmas traditions he had participated in during his long life, there was one he’d never quite grasped: ice skating. It wasn’t that there hadn’t been any opportunities; far from it. There were frozen lakes all over his country to take advantage of. He loved spending time by frozen lakes and had ventured out onto them for a little exploration, but he’d never skated on one. That was because he’d never learned _how_ to ice skate.

The other Nordic countries were determined to remedy this upon discovering it, if only to help Finland maintain his reputation as the ultimate Christmas aficionado. Nervous but eager, Finland had agreed, and before he knew it his friends had whisked him off to a winter supplies shop to be fitted for his own personal pair of ice skates.

From there it was off to Lake Saimaa for a Nordic gathering. Denmark, Norway, Iceland, and Sweden had all brought their own skates along. Once they were all poised by the lakeshore and had donned their skates, Finland’s nervousness had begun to overtake his eagerness. He was plenty familiar with Lake Saimaa, seeing as it was in his own country, and he knew just how large it was.

The plane of ice seemed to stretch on endlessly, interspersed with small mounds of land. He shivered as he stared out at the horizon, and it wasn’t because of the cold.

“You ready now, Fin?” Denmark clapped a hand on Finland’s shoulder, making the smaller nation yelp. “That’s gotta mean yes, right?”

“Leave him alone, stupid Dane,” Norway cut in, tugging Denmark away before he could misinterpret any more of Finland’s exclamations. “Let him take his time.”

“Th-thank you, Nor,” Finland managed. “You can all go ahead, I’ll…catch up.”

“You don’t have to tell me twice!” Denmark cheered, hopping onto the ice and pushing off the shore. He may have used more force than necessary, as he was sent sailing off towards the distance, kicking up shaved ice with the blades of his skates.

Norway let out a long-suffering sigh. “I’d better go after him to make sure he doesn’t hurt himself.” With that, he kicked off the shore as well, taking more caution than Denmark and controlling his speed and direction as he pursued the Dane.

That left Finland with Iceland and Sweden. The former hummed and stepped towards the ice, testing it by prodding the edge of his skate’s blade against its rigid surface.

“It’s not that difficult once you get the hang of it,” Iceland assured Finland. “Might’ve been a good idea to start you off on a rink with railings, though…”

Finland gulped. Why hadn’t they just brought him to a rink instead? Probably because Denmark was the master planner of the event and he wanted to go all-out.

“You’ll do fine,” Iceland encouraged, slipping out onto the ice and slowly gliding away with the momentum. “I’ll make sure Den and Nor don’t do anything too crazy.” Tilting his head to the side and faintly smirking, he added, “And I’m sure Sweden will be happy to help you.”

The quiet nation in question shifted slightly where he stood beside Finland, his boots crunching the snow underfoot. Iceland left the pair on the shore, gliding in a wavy pattern towards the far side of the lake where Norway was trying to catch up to an out-of-control Denmark plowing towards an island.

Exhaling shakily, Finland turned to Sweden. “You wouldn’t mind helping me, would you Swe?”

The Swede stiffly shook his head. “’Course not.”

Gratitude shone in Finland’s violet eyes. “A-alright, I think I’m ready to go out on the ice then.”

“’M right behind ya,” Sweden gruffly assured, and that was all the encouragement Finland needed.

Putting one skate on the ice, Finland tested the frozen waters. He slid his skate back and forth over the slick surface, trying to get a feel for how to maneuver. The sheer lack of grip worried him; how was he supposed to stop or steer when there was nothing to hold onto?

Regardless, swallowing down as much of his uncertainty as he could manage, he balanced himself so that he could place both feet firmly on the ice. Even with the minimal momentum he had, his skates still carried him slowly away from the shoreline. Holding out his arms and uselessly grabbing at the air, Finland looked frantically back to solid ground.

“I can’t stop!” he fretted, looking desperately to Sweden.

Bowing his head and seamlessly transferring to the ice, Sweden slid up beside Finland and pointed the toes of his left foot into the ice, catching himself on the spokes of his skate. He stopped right beside Finland and put a firm hand on his shoulder to safely immobilize him.

Looking down at the spokes of Sweden’s skate, Finland realized, “Oh, so that’s how you stop…” His gaze fell to his own skates. “I was wondering what those marks on the blades were for.”

Frowning in concentration, Finland turned his right skate so that it was pointed downwards, pressing the spiky tip of its blade into the ice. He could feel it holding him in place, but his left skate kept moving and began to slide forward out from under him before he could move to stop it.

More than likely, Finland would have fallen flat on his butt if Sweden hadn’t been right there beside him. The tall nation put out his arm around Finland’s back to catch him before he could hit the ice, cautiously maneuvering him back onto his feet but not releasing him.

Finland had to take a few seconds to catch his breath. Lingering fear from his near fall coursed under his chilled skin. He hadn’t even been on the ice for a full minute, and already he’d nearly gotten into an accident.

“B’careful,” Sweden instructed, protectively pulling Finland closer.

The terror pulsing through Finland’s veins subsided at that. He felt infinitely safer in Sweden’s arms, and he didn’t want to leave them. They provided balance, comfort, and as an added bonus warmth to combat the chilly weather. Finland loved the cold; he kind of had to, considering his climate. But Sweden was giving out heat like a sauna, and it was making him feel much calmer about continuing the ice skating expedition.

“Maybe we could just…skate together?” Finland suggested, staring up hopefully.

Staring back with his ever-stoic, blue eyes, Sweden just nodded once and hummed gruffly in agreement. Finland felt a slight push and Sweden gently kicked off, sending them both gliding across the ice at a comfortable pace. He was careful to keep his skates arranged so that they wouldn’t get tangled in Sweden’s or disrupt the path he was following, holding on for dear life as they skated further out onto the lake.

Somewhere along the way, Finland started to relax again, focusing on the comfort of Sweden’s hold and adjusting to the feeling of cutting across the ice. Though he loathed to separate from the embrace, Finland eventually forced himself to push on his own skates, copying the movements of Sweden’s feet he’d been cataloguing as they went. He got to the point where he could fall into a rhythm of kick, slide, kick, slide, and contribute to their movement, which upped their pace considerably.

Finland couldn’t help it; he let out a small, joyous laugh as he enjoyed the feeling of flying. Somewhere amidst his stern features, a crease of a smile appeared on Sweden’s face.

By the time they’d reached the nearest shore opposite the one they’d started from, Finland was comfortable enough to only hold one of Sweden’s hands, skating alongside him and matching his speed flawlessly. He was really getting the hang of ice skating, and he couldn’t be happier about it. 

The other three Nordics were waiting on the shore when they arrived. Denmark was sitting on the ground rubbing at a red spot on his forehead while Norway lectured him about not paying attention to where he was skating. Evidently the Dane had tripped over a protruding log embedded in the ice’s surface and landed flat on his face. Iceland waved to Sweden and Finland as they arrived.

The first words out of Sweden’s mouth when he and Finland returned to land were, “M’wife is good at skatin’.”

Laughing nervously and turning bright red, Finland’s eyes darted between the other Nordics. Despite his embarrassment, he still couldn’t bring himself to release Sweden’s hand, even when they returned to the ice for another round.

_Thus ends the thirteenth day of Christmas._

**Author's Note:**

> In case you're wondering, yes, Finland ice skated in his full Santa suit. Enjoy that mental image.


End file.
